Beg, Steal or Borrow – Honour among thieves and all that crap: Part 1
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Lieutenant JG Petro
Post Details
Janna emerged from the bathroom, a towel over her shoulder, “Joran, we’ve got a problem,” she said tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
“And you discovered that in there?” he sneered rubbing his fingers over the ridged bridge of his nose still bruised and crusty from where that Romulan thug had thrown him into a door.
Janna’s blue eyes flashed angrily, “Its not my fault your guard was down,” she said missing wishing again that her occasional lover and partner in crime had his spots back. She sat on the arm of the sofa and leaned over him, “stop feeling sorry for yourself, we’ll deal with him another time. Right now there’s someone inspecting your work.”
“What?” Joran turned to her, “Who?”
“I don’t know, but they are paying very close attention to the primary shield generators … I don’t think they’re Starfleet.”
Joran cupped her cheek in his hand, “You’re a godsend,” he said marvelling at the half-Betazoid; it was lucky too that her eyes were as blue as cornflowers and not that tell-tale black the full blooded ones had. She’d exploited the asset shamelessly before they had met and to both of their advantages ever since. “Stay here, I’ll …”
“Not this time. Replicate me a uniform and well go together, I’ll know long before you do if we need to change our plans,” she added pulling off her top.
Minutes later they were on their way.
Deck 1117 was a lonely place, the sort of place people only went when they needed to. Joran had been there recently with stolen access rights that he had assured continued to function through judicious use of blackmail on the unfortunate Lieutenant who had been foolish enough to share his codes when he was drunk.
Janna looked around, “He’s still here, but concentrating,” she whispered, “keep your eyes open.”
---
A large Orion stood with his arms crossed, waiting impatiently as the smaller human beside him continued to work. "Are you almost finished?" he asked, his tone more of an order than a question.
"Don't get your skin ruffled." the smaller man said. "And stop bothering me. You're supposed to be on the look out not looking over my shoulder." he turned and waved towards a hall area. "Go look over there or something."
As the Orion walked away, Cordova returned his attention to his work. Whoever had been in here before didn't know the first thing about repairing a shield generator. The way this was done, they might have power for a mere minute before everything went down. That wouldn't be enough time. It had to last for at least ten minutes if the rouse was to be kept. "Unless...." he thought. "Unless whoever set this up didn't want the shields to last."
---
As they stepped slowly down the corridor Janna laid her hand on Joran’s shoulder, she did not speak but raised two fingers and pointed, mouthing the words ‘round the corner’.
Joran’s hand tightened on the toolkit he carried, at a pinch he would swing it at whoever was there. Again Janna raised her hand and shook her head, this time she projected the thought to her partner; ‘I’ll go. Follow me, but wait thirty seconds.”
Janna stepped loudly along the remaining length of the corridor, she had no wish to surprise whoever was there. If it was one of the Federation engineers he’d see nothing more than a colleague who had lost her way, then Joran could deal with him, if it was someone else … well Joran could deal with them too.
Turning the corner Janna stopped in surprise. “What are you doing here?” she asked, pretending to be just what she appeared to be as she probed his thoughts.
Anthony froze. A woman's voice came from behind. He clenched his teeth at the ineffectiveness of the green galute to keep watch. He turned slowly and relaxed when he saw her uniform. "Name's Cordova, I'm checking on the work done here by some incompetent engineer. See, I'm a consultant and I was hired to make sure this station was in tip top shape. Given the state of affairs lately, I decided to take the hands on approach."
As he spoke he waved his arms around in grand gestures, hoping to distract whoever this was from what he was doing.
Joran didn't have to wait the thirty seconds that Janna had instructed him. As he was watching her, the Orion was watching him. He stepped out of the shadows, grabbed Joran by the back of the neck and lifted him off his feet. The green skinned bulk of a creature carried Joran with one arm outstretched to where Cordova was talking to an attractive Bajoran.
Anthony looked at the Orion and shivered. He could remember the first time that he had been carried that way and it was not a pleasant experience. "Looks like we have company," Cordova said. He glanced at the phaser that sat just behind his pack of tools, hopefully out of the sight of these intruders.
Janna took a step back, “let him go!” she said seeing the horror in Joran’s face as much as she felt his fear, discomfort and embarrassment. “You’re no more a consultant than I am an Engineer,” she accused turning on the man who had introduced himself as Cordova. His thoughts and motivations were every bit as complicated as her own and nowhere in there did she sense any desire to protect the starbase as he professed, “and don’t even think of using that phaser – you fire that and we’ll have the whole of station security down on us.”
"A telepath." Cordova said. "So, if you're not an engineer then what are you doing down here?" He asked.
The Orion continued to hold Joran in the air. "What about him?" he asked.
"Keep him for now but don't hurt him. These two might be to our advantage." Anthony said. He returned his attention to the telepath. "We still have the upper hand," he said. "If you'll pardon the pun."
Janna leaned against the wall, her arms folded, “I think some introductions are needed,” she said.
"Agreed." Cordova said. "How about you start. Then I'll see about having that Behemoth release his hold on your friend. Unless you prefer I begin and your friend continue to dangle."
It was not quite what Janna had in mind, but she couldn’t free Joran herself and her weapon was in the toolbox which he had dropped earlier. “Linara Veidt, and my associate is Joran Terrel, in this place we are known as Janna and Joran Pellan. If you’re familiar with the heist on the first bank of Andor two years ago you may even know our real faces,” there was not much point in lying, as part of a similar fraternity it was better that the newcomers knew who they were dealing with.
Anthony nodded. "So you're thieves." he said. "And my guess, given the uniform, the disguise and our current location, that you also do work for the highest bidder."
”There are worse ways to make a living,” Janna said. “Let him down, and let’s hear who you are.”
The Orion released his grip, allowing Joran to fall to the ground.
"My name is Anthony Cordova." he said with a grandiose bow, "and the Orion behind you is Kal." He stepped aside revealing the inner workings of the shield matrix. "I take it that the two of you are responsible for this? Might it have something to do with the Romulan perched at our doorstep?"
Janna glanced toward Joran who, now that he had picked himself up was rubbing the back of his neck with one hand whilst muttering something under his breath and casting a murderous glance towards the Orion. “It might have something to do with that,” she said, “Jo, go and get our stuff,” she added peeling herself away from the wall and peering into the opening.
“What’s your interest in this starbase?” she asked, “we’re all going to be in a pickle if you came down here to make sure this was working.”
The Kal watched Joran fetch their things to make sure he didn't make the mistake of going for a weapon. Anthony sat on the edge of the console and folded his own arms. "Working? Only a little. If the shields go down too soon, then those yahoo's up in command will know that there's been some tampering going on. However, if they go down while be fired upon, it becomes a little more convincing that they are the ones who are inept."
He stood again and took a step closer to Janna. "And when history is told, they will tell of how the Federation lost it's place because of the fools running this station."
“I don’t care about history,” Janna said staying exactly where she was, “I care about being paid. The shields have to fail when our pointy eared benefactors out there attack the place, isn’t that right Joran?”
He dropped the toolbox to the floor with a crash, “Yeah, that’s right, with the rest of the latinum coming when its over.” He didn’t say that he expected to be double crossed and he was no longer relying on this payment. “One of them is offering a small fortune for the ambassador too …” He wondered if they could be persuaded to get the woman, then he could hand her over and get away with the payment before either side knew what had happened.
"Typical." Cordova huffed. "We need these shields to last at least ten minutes. I'm take it that you have plans on being transported out of here?"
"The bags are packed," Janna laughed, "ten seconds, ten minutes, it makes no difference to us - why do you need the time?"
"As I said. History in the making." He replied. "So, your bags are packed and all you have to do is wait for the shields to be down." he nodded, placing his hand on his chin. "Perhaps we could accommodate each other in this venture. Yours is for money but ours serves a higher purpose. I see no reason why we can't work together."
“Honour among thieves and all that crap?” Joran snorted, “Why the hell should we trust you?”
“Jo, if we need to get out of here its better we know now rather than find ourselves unexpectedly waiting when we’re more pressed for time,” Janna reasoned.
“Ten minutes in a barrage from their ships? Hell, they’re going to shatter the station, our friends aren’t going to wait ten minutes out there with all that going on – they’ll scarper at the first sign of delay.”
“Not if we warn them, there’s time to rearrange things,” Janna said. She had the advantage of being able to read what Kal and Cordova were thinking, and right now they had no choice but to co-operate, but as soon as they were away they could plan what to do and reassess whether or not they were going to go along with the revised plan.
“OK,” Joran said reluctantly. “Ten minutes. No more.”
"No more will be needed." Anthony said. "It's just the right amount of time to give the desired effects. As for your friends on the outside, have them station themselves in this area." He picked up a PADD from his gear and pulled up the stations view from space. "The Romulans will be attacking here." He said, indicating a location on the PADD. "If your people are here, "he pointed to another spot, "they should be safe from the initial barrage. Fifteen minutes after the attack begins, they'll have a slim corridor to get out but it'll be wide enough for them to flee without raising suspicion. With the attacks well underway and the amount of chaos that will be reaching a climax, no one will think twice about it."
"He set the PADD back in his bag and leaned against a pillar. "If they leave too early, it'll bring suspicion. A mistake that you made on the Andor heist was timing. Your faces should have never been seen and even if they were, you should not have been suspected."
He placed his hands on his knees and leaned forward. "Still, you got away with it, sort of, and you're alive. But this isn't a bank heist and I'm guessing by the agitation in your friend's voice that there's more to the story than a simple sabotauge."
"We've done what we were asked to do," Janna said, ignoring the man's commentary on their career. "The problem with Romulans is the plan is never simple, they for one thing, then another and all that to disguise their real reason. I'll not work for them again," she said.
"That's probably wise." Kal said.
"Agreed." Anthony turned his attention back to the shield generator. "Ten minutes and not a second longer." he said, closing the panel. "Now, about this Ambassador problem of yours."
“So you are interested in more than your so called cause,” Joran sneered, “One of the Romulans wants her, doesn’t really care if she’s alive or dead. I’ve tried to get to her, but rigging all this has been taking up most of my time … and she’s become inseparable from some anvil headed crony of hers,” he reflexively rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Without an understanding of our cause, you have no way of knowing whether or not the interest is beyond it." Anthony pointed out. "As for time and resources, we might be able to work something out."
“Yeah, yeah, you’re a philosopher too. Are you interested or not? We’ll split the payment – you get her, I’ll make the delivery.”
"And there we come to the trust issue again." He nodded to Kal who stepped closer to Joran. "Perhaps you and I should discuss this matter alone." he said to Janna. "Your hot headed friend there is on the verge of an emotional breakdown. I'd hate to see him put his foot in his mouth."
"So would I." Kal said, cracking his knuckles.
"Not literally you oaf." Cordova said. "And I don't want you to put his foot in his mouth either."
"Right." Kal replied, stepping back a half step.
“Can we safely leave these two together?” Janna asked indicating Joran and the Orion with a wave of her hand. “Someone needs to make the adjustments to that grid and there isn’t all that much time left.”
"I've finished with that. I was just about done when you interrupted me." He looked at the Orion and then at Joran. "Kal will behave himself so long as Joran does. If he doesn't, well..."
“Then let’s take a walk, just the two of us,” Janna said.
"This way then." He said, holding out his arm in the old fashioned way.
Off:
Joran Pellan (aka Joran Terrel)
Janna Pellan (aka Linara Veidt)
NPCd by Louise
Anthony Cordova
Kal
NPC'd by Petro
by Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Lieutenant JG Petro
Post Details
| Title | Honour among thieves and all that crap: Part 1 | |
| Mission | Beg, Steal or Borrow | |
| Author(s) | Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Lieutenant JG Petro | |
| Posted | Sat Mar 07, 2009 @ 4:56pm | |
| Location | DS5 | |
| Timeline | SD8 c. 12:15 |
“And you discovered that in there?” he sneered rubbing his fingers over the ridged bridge of his nose still bruised and crusty from where that Romulan thug had thrown him into a door.
Janna’s blue eyes flashed angrily, “Its not my fault your guard was down,” she said missing wishing again that her occasional lover and partner in crime had his spots back. She sat on the arm of the sofa and leaned over him, “stop feeling sorry for yourself, we’ll deal with him another time. Right now there’s someone inspecting your work.”
“What?” Joran turned to her, “Who?”
“I don’t know, but they are paying very close attention to the primary shield generators … I don’t think they’re Starfleet.”
Joran cupped her cheek in his hand, “You’re a godsend,” he said marvelling at the half-Betazoid; it was lucky too that her eyes were as blue as cornflowers and not that tell-tale black the full blooded ones had. She’d exploited the asset shamelessly before they had met and to both of their advantages ever since. “Stay here, I’ll …”
“Not this time. Replicate me a uniform and well go together, I’ll know long before you do if we need to change our plans,” she added pulling off her top.
Minutes later they were on their way.
Deck 1117 was a lonely place, the sort of place people only went when they needed to. Joran had been there recently with stolen access rights that he had assured continued to function through judicious use of blackmail on the unfortunate Lieutenant who had been foolish enough to share his codes when he was drunk.
Janna looked around, “He’s still here, but concentrating,” she whispered, “keep your eyes open.”
---
A large Orion stood with his arms crossed, waiting impatiently as the smaller human beside him continued to work. "Are you almost finished?" he asked, his tone more of an order than a question.
"Don't get your skin ruffled." the smaller man said. "And stop bothering me. You're supposed to be on the look out not looking over my shoulder." he turned and waved towards a hall area. "Go look over there or something."
As the Orion walked away, Cordova returned his attention to his work. Whoever had been in here before didn't know the first thing about repairing a shield generator. The way this was done, they might have power for a mere minute before everything went down. That wouldn't be enough time. It had to last for at least ten minutes if the rouse was to be kept. "Unless...." he thought. "Unless whoever set this up didn't want the shields to last."
---
As they stepped slowly down the corridor Janna laid her hand on Joran’s shoulder, she did not speak but raised two fingers and pointed, mouthing the words ‘round the corner’.
Joran’s hand tightened on the toolkit he carried, at a pinch he would swing it at whoever was there. Again Janna raised her hand and shook her head, this time she projected the thought to her partner; ‘I’ll go. Follow me, but wait thirty seconds.”
Janna stepped loudly along the remaining length of the corridor, she had no wish to surprise whoever was there. If it was one of the Federation engineers he’d see nothing more than a colleague who had lost her way, then Joran could deal with him, if it was someone else … well Joran could deal with them too.
Turning the corner Janna stopped in surprise. “What are you doing here?” she asked, pretending to be just what she appeared to be as she probed his thoughts.
Anthony froze. A woman's voice came from behind. He clenched his teeth at the ineffectiveness of the green galute to keep watch. He turned slowly and relaxed when he saw her uniform. "Name's Cordova, I'm checking on the work done here by some incompetent engineer. See, I'm a consultant and I was hired to make sure this station was in tip top shape. Given the state of affairs lately, I decided to take the hands on approach."
As he spoke he waved his arms around in grand gestures, hoping to distract whoever this was from what he was doing.
Joran didn't have to wait the thirty seconds that Janna had instructed him. As he was watching her, the Orion was watching him. He stepped out of the shadows, grabbed Joran by the back of the neck and lifted him off his feet. The green skinned bulk of a creature carried Joran with one arm outstretched to where Cordova was talking to an attractive Bajoran.
Anthony looked at the Orion and shivered. He could remember the first time that he had been carried that way and it was not a pleasant experience. "Looks like we have company," Cordova said. He glanced at the phaser that sat just behind his pack of tools, hopefully out of the sight of these intruders.
Janna took a step back, “let him go!” she said seeing the horror in Joran’s face as much as she felt his fear, discomfort and embarrassment. “You’re no more a consultant than I am an Engineer,” she accused turning on the man who had introduced himself as Cordova. His thoughts and motivations were every bit as complicated as her own and nowhere in there did she sense any desire to protect the starbase as he professed, “and don’t even think of using that phaser – you fire that and we’ll have the whole of station security down on us.”
"A telepath." Cordova said. "So, if you're not an engineer then what are you doing down here?" He asked.
The Orion continued to hold Joran in the air. "What about him?" he asked.
"Keep him for now but don't hurt him. These two might be to our advantage." Anthony said. He returned his attention to the telepath. "We still have the upper hand," he said. "If you'll pardon the pun."
Janna leaned against the wall, her arms folded, “I think some introductions are needed,” she said.
"Agreed." Cordova said. "How about you start. Then I'll see about having that Behemoth release his hold on your friend. Unless you prefer I begin and your friend continue to dangle."
It was not quite what Janna had in mind, but she couldn’t free Joran herself and her weapon was in the toolbox which he had dropped earlier. “Linara Veidt, and my associate is Joran Terrel, in this place we are known as Janna and Joran Pellan. If you’re familiar with the heist on the first bank of Andor two years ago you may even know our real faces,” there was not much point in lying, as part of a similar fraternity it was better that the newcomers knew who they were dealing with.
Anthony nodded. "So you're thieves." he said. "And my guess, given the uniform, the disguise and our current location, that you also do work for the highest bidder."
”There are worse ways to make a living,” Janna said. “Let him down, and let’s hear who you are.”
The Orion released his grip, allowing Joran to fall to the ground.
"My name is Anthony Cordova." he said with a grandiose bow, "and the Orion behind you is Kal." He stepped aside revealing the inner workings of the shield matrix. "I take it that the two of you are responsible for this? Might it have something to do with the Romulan perched at our doorstep?"
Janna glanced toward Joran who, now that he had picked himself up was rubbing the back of his neck with one hand whilst muttering something under his breath and casting a murderous glance towards the Orion. “It might have something to do with that,” she said, “Jo, go and get our stuff,” she added peeling herself away from the wall and peering into the opening.
“What’s your interest in this starbase?” she asked, “we’re all going to be in a pickle if you came down here to make sure this was working.”
The Kal watched Joran fetch their things to make sure he didn't make the mistake of going for a weapon. Anthony sat on the edge of the console and folded his own arms. "Working? Only a little. If the shields go down too soon, then those yahoo's up in command will know that there's been some tampering going on. However, if they go down while be fired upon, it becomes a little more convincing that they are the ones who are inept."
He stood again and took a step closer to Janna. "And when history is told, they will tell of how the Federation lost it's place because of the fools running this station."
“I don’t care about history,” Janna said staying exactly where she was, “I care about being paid. The shields have to fail when our pointy eared benefactors out there attack the place, isn’t that right Joran?”
He dropped the toolbox to the floor with a crash, “Yeah, that’s right, with the rest of the latinum coming when its over.” He didn’t say that he expected to be double crossed and he was no longer relying on this payment. “One of them is offering a small fortune for the ambassador too …” He wondered if they could be persuaded to get the woman, then he could hand her over and get away with the payment before either side knew what had happened.
"Typical." Cordova huffed. "We need these shields to last at least ten minutes. I'm take it that you have plans on being transported out of here?"
"The bags are packed," Janna laughed, "ten seconds, ten minutes, it makes no difference to us - why do you need the time?"
"As I said. History in the making." He replied. "So, your bags are packed and all you have to do is wait for the shields to be down." he nodded, placing his hand on his chin. "Perhaps we could accommodate each other in this venture. Yours is for money but ours serves a higher purpose. I see no reason why we can't work together."
“Honour among thieves and all that crap?” Joran snorted, “Why the hell should we trust you?”
“Jo, if we need to get out of here its better we know now rather than find ourselves unexpectedly waiting when we’re more pressed for time,” Janna reasoned.
“Ten minutes in a barrage from their ships? Hell, they’re going to shatter the station, our friends aren’t going to wait ten minutes out there with all that going on – they’ll scarper at the first sign of delay.”
“Not if we warn them, there’s time to rearrange things,” Janna said. She had the advantage of being able to read what Kal and Cordova were thinking, and right now they had no choice but to co-operate, but as soon as they were away they could plan what to do and reassess whether or not they were going to go along with the revised plan.
“OK,” Joran said reluctantly. “Ten minutes. No more.”
"No more will be needed." Anthony said. "It's just the right amount of time to give the desired effects. As for your friends on the outside, have them station themselves in this area." He picked up a PADD from his gear and pulled up the stations view from space. "The Romulans will be attacking here." He said, indicating a location on the PADD. "If your people are here, "he pointed to another spot, "they should be safe from the initial barrage. Fifteen minutes after the attack begins, they'll have a slim corridor to get out but it'll be wide enough for them to flee without raising suspicion. With the attacks well underway and the amount of chaos that will be reaching a climax, no one will think twice about it."
"He set the PADD back in his bag and leaned against a pillar. "If they leave too early, it'll bring suspicion. A mistake that you made on the Andor heist was timing. Your faces should have never been seen and even if they were, you should not have been suspected."
He placed his hands on his knees and leaned forward. "Still, you got away with it, sort of, and you're alive. But this isn't a bank heist and I'm guessing by the agitation in your friend's voice that there's more to the story than a simple sabotauge."
"We've done what we were asked to do," Janna said, ignoring the man's commentary on their career. "The problem with Romulans is the plan is never simple, they for one thing, then another and all that to disguise their real reason. I'll not work for them again," she said.
"That's probably wise." Kal said.
"Agreed." Anthony turned his attention back to the shield generator. "Ten minutes and not a second longer." he said, closing the panel. "Now, about this Ambassador problem of yours."
“So you are interested in more than your so called cause,” Joran sneered, “One of the Romulans wants her, doesn’t really care if she’s alive or dead. I’ve tried to get to her, but rigging all this has been taking up most of my time … and she’s become inseparable from some anvil headed crony of hers,” he reflexively rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Without an understanding of our cause, you have no way of knowing whether or not the interest is beyond it." Anthony pointed out. "As for time and resources, we might be able to work something out."
“Yeah, yeah, you’re a philosopher too. Are you interested or not? We’ll split the payment – you get her, I’ll make the delivery.”
"And there we come to the trust issue again." He nodded to Kal who stepped closer to Joran. "Perhaps you and I should discuss this matter alone." he said to Janna. "Your hot headed friend there is on the verge of an emotional breakdown. I'd hate to see him put his foot in his mouth."
"So would I." Kal said, cracking his knuckles.
"Not literally you oaf." Cordova said. "And I don't want you to put his foot in his mouth either."
"Right." Kal replied, stepping back a half step.
“Can we safely leave these two together?” Janna asked indicating Joran and the Orion with a wave of her hand. “Someone needs to make the adjustments to that grid and there isn’t all that much time left.”
"I've finished with that. I was just about done when you interrupted me." He looked at the Orion and then at Joran. "Kal will behave himself so long as Joran does. If he doesn't, well..."
“Then let’s take a walk, just the two of us,” Janna said.
"This way then." He said, holding out his arm in the old fashioned way.
Off:
Joran Pellan (aka Joran Terrel)
Janna Pellan (aka Linara Veidt)
NPCd by Louise
Anthony Cordova
Kal
NPC'd by Petro